Environment

New Mexico Business Journal, Feb, 1997 by Brian P. Flynn

What is waste?

Think of a waste as a material that no longer has a use and is being discarded. This could be a treated wastewater stream, a solid going to a landfill, or vapors going up a stack. The regulations define some wastes in very complicated ways, particularly when recycling is involved. Some recycling activities are regulated, some are not. Get help here, if you are not sure.

Wastewater

Simply speaking, this generally comes in three varieties: human (sanitary) wastewater, industrial wastewater and stormwater runoff from areas of industrial activity. Many business enterprises send their sanitary wastewater to the local municipal wastewater treatment plant (or Publicly Owned Treatment Works, POTW). Nothing to worry about. Many small industrial and commercial operations do the same. Often, the local municipality will charge them based on a volume fee plus a surcharge based on the strength of the wastewater. A number of materials and constituents are banned or limited. For example: you can't pour pure gasoline down a sewer; you can only put one part million of phenol into a sewer.

Some industrial facilities treat and discharge their own wastewater. They must obtain a permit to do so. The permit is usually based on highly technical standards that apply to their industry and limits (but usually doesn't totally eliminate) the pollutants which can be discharged. This recognizes that total treatment to eliminate all pollutants is not usually technically or economically feasible. State and federal regulations govern this.

If stormwater runs off your property through one or more point sources (you can point at it, and say "there it is"), it could be regulated. It has to come from an area of industrial activity, which has become a somewhat complicated definition. A rough way to look at it is this: if the area could be contaminated (might be clean) and is somehow a part of the manufacturing process and all its support activities, it probably meets the definition. Federal regulations apply. Call EPA in Dallas for starters.

If you have oil storage facilities or oil pipelines, you usually need to have a Spill Prevention Control and Countermeasure (SPCC) Plan. To make matters tougher, there are cases where more than one regulatory agency has authority. If you don't have an oil pipeline or store less than 42,000 gallons below ground, or less than 1,320 gallons above ground (with no single tank bigger than 660 gallons) at a location, these regulations usually don't apply to you.

Solid and Hazardous Wastes

Everyone has heard of Superfund. In the very early 80s, everybody had to notify EPA if they had any knowledge of past waste disposal at their location. Generally, if you are not contacted by EPA as being one or more "lucky" parties who contributed to a waste site, you have no involvement in Superfund. Just make sure you don't buy a contaminated property that enters the program later.

If you generate, treat, store, or dispose of hazardous waste, you are probably subject to Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) regulations. There are some fairly complicated exclusions if you generate only small quantities. How do you know if something is a hazardous waste?

You have to go to the Code of Federal Regulations to see if your specific waste is listed, and you need to check if the material would be ignitable, reactive, corrosive or fail a special test called the Toxicity Characteristic Leaching Procedure. This is not the easiest thing in the world to do. Fortunately, if it is a waste, you will often hire a disposer to take it away. They know how to do this for you.

If you are a "do-it-yourselfer" and store your hazardous waste for more than 90 days, treat it in any way or dispose of it (say in your own landfill), then you need a permit from the New Mexico Environment Department (NMED). The application procedures are fairly lengthy and complicated.

Air

Everybody has some level of awareness about the air pollution problems associated with automobiles. These are known as mobile sources (of air emissions) and are addressed via catalytic converters, oxygenated gasolines, vehicle inspections etc. This set of controls flows from the Clean Air Act of 1970, with major amendments in 1990. The major impact on business stems from the controls required for stationary sources, also imposed by this Act. If you put something into the air you have to figure out roughly what it is and how much (at something like full production or use) in order to determine if you must meet the regulations. It gets pretty complicated.

FOR MORE INFORMATION

US Environmental Protection Agency Region 6, Fountain Place, 1445 Ross Ave., Dallas, TX 75202-2733 Phone: (214) 665-6548 Fax: (214) 665-2146 Internet: http://www.epa.gov/earth1r6/.>Mark E. Weidler, Secretary Environment Department Harold Runnels Bldg., 1190 St. Francis Dr. Santa Fe, NM 87502 Phone: 827-2855; 800-219-6157 Fax: 827-2836

Peter Maggiorre, Director Environment Protection Division Environment Department Harold Runnels Bldg., 1190 St. Francis Dr. Santa Fe, NM 87502 Phone: 827-2835 Fax: 827-2836